


Saturday Night's Alright

by scatteringmyashes



Series: Modern Vox Machina [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Vax'ildan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 04:58:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8697661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scatteringmyashes/pseuds/scatteringmyashes
Summary: “This is stupid.”“This is your idea.” “You have me there, sister.” Or: Vox Machina is in college, they don’t have many friends, and they meet during a Saturday night Dungeons and Dragons session.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My second-ever Critical Role fic! I have plans on making this into a series, so we'll see how much I end up adding to this. Considering this story the introduction to this universe.
> 
> And yes, Vax'ildan is trans :) 
> 
> Find me on tumblr [here!](http://scatteringmyashes.tumblr.com/)

Vax’ildan acted confident in many aspects of life, which of course meant he was confident in none of them. He spent most of his time wondering what he was going to do after he graduated college before remembering that he had to decide on a major first, which of course could only come after talking to his advisor. Who, as luck would have it, seemed to dislike Vax almost as much as his father. That was rather impressive considering Syldor was the title holder and lifetime champion of every ‘worst father ever’ competition. 

Ever. 

It was difficult enough for Vax to settle on something to eat in the morning, mind whirling through his schedule as he walked the careful line of ‘nutritious’ and ‘delicious’ with the specter of ‘poor college student’ lurking over his shoulder. Trying to settle on something that would literally define his future? Nope. No way. He was taking his sweet time with that. 

There was just too much to think about. Too many factors that changed at a second’s notice or were impossible to define. Vax had a lot going on his life, between his job and his classes and therapy. None of it was constant, none of it was certain to last. 

His relationship with Vex’ahlia, his wonderful if entirely annoying sister, was perhaps the sole thing that Vax was certain of. 

Seeing as they had spent the entirety of their twenty-one years on Earth within five miles of each other, it would be an understatement to say they were close. Vex was the only person who knew Vax was terrified of spiders and Vax was the only other person who could take Trinket, their oversized dog, on walks. 

In fact, of the numbers in Vax’s phone, he only knew two by heart. One was his sister’s, whom he had on speed dial anyways. The other was the pizza place down the road, because it delivered at one am and had the best crusts. 

So really, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when their therapist, because yes they shared a therapist, told them that it would help if they begun to develop relationships with other people. As in, people they weren’t related to and hadn’t known since birth. They needed to lessen their dependency on one another because they were twenty one and apparently most twenty one year olds didn’t share therapists with their siblings.

That was something Vax had guessed, but he didn’t feel the need to change it until the good doctor had mentioned it as a possible issue. 

It wouldn’t be accurate to say that Vax was offended, except he was and he made that clear to Vex when they left that day. “I do not have difficulty forming emotional bonds with others,” he complained, knowing it was a lie as soon as he said it. Vex just gave him a look. “You’re in just as much trouble as me,” Vax pointed out.

“We are not in trouble. He just made a suggestion.” She shrugged as Trinket bumped her with his nose. The fact that Vex was almost knocked over betrayed the fact that she was distracted, thinking about what their therapist had said. 

Still, she didn’t talk about it until they were back in their apartment, the door needing an extra push to close properly. Vax made a mental note to oil the hinges again; god knew the super wouldn’t do it. “Do you think that we’re lonely?” Vex asked.

Tempting as it was to dismiss her and bury his own fears, Vax looked at the facts. He and his sister rarely interacted with anyone else. When they did, it was usually one of their teachers, classmates, or whoever happened to be delivering food. The last time Vax had hung out with not-sister friends had been before second grade, before he began insisting on _he_. High school had been a mess of half-assed Mandarin, cold ‘family’ dinners, and horrible galas. There was a reason that Vax and Vex were going to therapy. 

But being lonely? Needing to make other friends, be with people who weren’t Vex for a few hours every day? That was not something Vax had ever felt the urge for. He didn’t need more fulfilling relationships, whatever that meant. For all of his problems, Vax had never felt like he was alone. He had Vex, after all. 

So he shook his head and gave his sister a customary grin. “I think Mercer is full of shit.” That seemed to ease any of Vex’ahlia’s fears and she nodded before kneeling down and rubbing Trinket’s fur. 

“Besides we have you, don’t we? And Trinket loves his mommy, yes he does,” Vex cooed. In response, Trinket _woofed_ and licked her face. Vax chuckled and went to see what there was for dinner. He was feeling the need for pasta tonight. 

Vax’ildan saw the flier three days later as he exited the anthropology department and made his way into the psychology floor. Usually he’d just take the elevator down, but the damn thing had been broken the whole week and probably wouldn’t get fixed until the semester was over, thanks to budget cuts. 

So that was why Vax had to take three flights of stairs instead, making his way past billboard after billboard advertising guest speakers, work study opportunities, tutoring hours, and study-abroad. Vax had spent almost seven years of his life abroad, thank you very much; he didn’t want to do that again. 

Amidst all the colors and exclamation points was a single flier on bright red paper. Later, Vax wouldn’t be sure why that of all things caught his gaze. Perhaps it was the single twenty-sided die surrounded by weapons or the way it asked ‘do you enjoy adventures?’ alongside ‘do you want to make friends?’ as if the poster wasn’t quite sure which would draw the most attention. It wasn’t particularly fancy; Vax could have made it on Word in thirty minutes. But it was advertising a Saturday night dungeons and dragons group, promising a good time and a good challenge. 

At the bottom, there was a longer description and a few tear-away pieces with a phone number, email, and name so any interested person could ask for more information. Vax had never played D&D in his life before, though he had heard about it. Not really his cup of tea; if he had to pick a social situation, sitting in a room and pretending to kill monsters wasn’t his idea of a good time. 

But his therapist’s words echoed in his head, the look the man gave him and Vex still easy to recall.

He didn’t think he would do anything with it, just pull bits of it out of the laundry after he inevitably forgot it in his pocket, but Vax took a slip anyway and continued going down the stairs. 

It wasn’t until another day had passed before Vex even saw the phone number. 

“What’s this?” She asked, holding up the sliver of red and raising at eyebrow at her brother, who was supposed to be studying for his midterms and instead was doing what any responsible college student would do: watch Netflix. 

He glanced over at her. It took him a moment to place the paper, Vax being of the out of sight, out of mind ideology. “Oh, it’s from a flier I saw the other day. You can throw it out,” he replied, scratching Trinket behind the ear. The dog started wagging his tail, hitting Vax in the leg as the appendage moved. 

“Why’d you grab it?” Vex asked, not one to be dissuaded. “And shouldn’t you be studying, not re-watching Criminal Minds?” 

Vax made a vague, half-shrug and motioned towards the television. “Television. And I thought you might be interested.” He then realized that he had yet to explain what it was for and he gave her a grin. “It’s a speed dating number,” he lied. Vex narrowed her eyes, not quite sure if her brother was being his usual snarky self or telling the truth. 

“What is it actually for?” She decided to call him on his bullshit and Vax, tired from a day at the bookstore and biking from class to class, admitted what the number actually was. 

After hearing her brother come clean, Vex blinked and sat on the other side of the couch. There was a moment when the only sound was someone explaining just why a crazed cotton farmer would go on a murder spree. Trinket, completely oblivious to the tension that had suddenly come down around the two of them, nudged Vax to get more ear scratches. 

“Do you want to join?” And wow, wasn’t _that_ the question. Vax didn’t know. He and his sister had never played before, though they had a vague idea of what D &D was. It wasn’t like Vax had expressed interest in it and neither had Vex, but this would be the least dangerous sibling bonding time they had ever done. Between the two of them, their hobbies included archery, going on runs, throwing daggers, and brooding in dimly lit rooms. 

Ok, the last two were entirely Vax. 

_Maybe I do need something else to do,_ he thought. _Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? You’ll both be there and if you hate it then you don’t show up again._ He eyed Vex, trying to see if she genuinely wanted to know or if she was going to tease him mercilessly for suggesting they go. But no, for once there was no hint of sibling malice, just honest curiosity. 

Vax shrugged and pulled Trinket’s considerable mass a little closer, finding comfort in having the solid warmth next to him. “If you want, we could check it out.” Vex sensed that this was the closest her brother was going to get to admitting that he wanted to go, so she didn’t push him further. 

“I’ll call the number,” she replied as she stood. “And Vax?” He pulled his gaze away from the television, pretending to be annoyed. Vex rolled her eyes. “Stop throwing your laundry in with mine, I can tell the difference.” 

“That doesn’t stop you from doing it!” Vax shouted after her as she walked away.

Despite the fact that he was perfectly safe, that he was in his apartment with his sister and no one was going to hurt him or force them apart, Vax couldn’t shake a sense of uneasiness. He sighed and stood, wandering over to his backpack so he could grab his bio textbook before following his sister. Sometimes he just needed to be able to see her, even if she was doing something as mundane as sorting laundry. 

 

// 

 

The first meeting wasn’t until the next week. It was right after dinner and Vax had not-so casually downed a beer to try to calm his nerves a little. The group was meeting at the library in one of the study rooms, a nice neutral location for their first time, but that didn’t change the fact that this was a group of complete strangers. For all Vax knew, the two of them were walking into a room full of white boys who thought they were hot shit.

Vax not-so casually fiddled with the knife in his pocket. It was a bad habit he picked up in China, carrying it around regardless of where he was, and he had broken it for the most part to Vex’s great relief. Not to say Vax _regularly_ got into knife fights, but he seemed to attract trouble like a moth to flame. But from time to time he needed the comfort its weight gave him, much like she sometimes just needed to curl up with Trinket on her bed. 

But Trinket didn’t do well in the library, something the twins had learned the hard way, so now Vex just knocked shoulders with her brother from time to time, as if to reassure herself that he was real. Vax didn’t mind; he liked it too.

“This is stupid,” Vax muttered as they stood outside the library. Its lights cast a comforting glow over the street, promising warmth and a good place to study regardless of the time. He and Vex preferred to study in their apartment but they had gotten used to getting textbooks from the library, juggling who had it checked out so they could keep it for the entire semester without spending a cent.

“This is your idea,” Vex replied, giving him a final look. It was clear she wouldn’t judge if he decided this was too much. She had always been better at interacting with others, her mind not hardened quite as much from years of rejection and peer taunts. 

“You have me there, sister.” Vax sighed. He was going to have to get over his mistrust and dislike of strangers sooner or later, so he might as well do it with his sister by his side. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.” They were five minutes early, but Vex didn’t say anything as Vax led the way and stepped inside.

Inside, it didn’t take them long to find the study room and they walked inside with only a little bit of hesitation. Vax would be lying if he said he was expecting the tall, but rather skinny black young man sitting at the end of the table with a scatter of papers and dice around him. There was a pair of thin glasses perched on his nose and he was wearing a well-cared for maroon sweater. 

“Oh, hello!” He looked up and grinned at the twins. “My name is Tiberius Stormwind. It’s a pleasure to meet you two.” Tiberius stood and held out his hand. Vax took it and was surprised at how vigorously Tiberius shook his hand. “I was nervous that no one would come, though there are a few others who expressed interest. You know how college schedules can be, of course, since you are college students--” Without warning, Tiberius snapped his mouth shut. Vax got the sense that this rambling happened often.

Vex slipped behind Vax and smiled at Tiberius, shaking his hand. “I’m Vex’ahlia and this is my brother, Vax’ildan. It’s nice to meet you.” Vax nodded and went around the table so he could sit with his back to a wall, facing the door directly. His sister rolled her eyes at him, not missing what he was doing. 

Tiberius seemed to miss this exchange. “Yes, yes,” he replied. “I don’t think I’ve seen either of you before, which is not much of a surprise considering how large our school is... What are you majoring in, if I may ask?” Tiberius, as far as Vax could tell, genuinely wanted to know. It was refreshing, Vax couldn’t help but think, to meet someone open and welcoming. 

“I’m an EA major. Vax hasn’t decided yet even though he’s a _junior_ and needs to declare in _nine months._ ” Vex gave Vax a look. He just shrugged. This wasn’t the place for that conversation, though in his opinion it was never time to talk about his indecision about future plans.

Tiberius nodded and went back to his piles of stuff, eventually pulling out two sheets of paper. “Did either of you bring a pen or something else to write with?” Now that the initial shock of Tiberius’ eagerness was over, Vax could tell that he had an accent. He couldn’t place it, which wasn’t surprising considering it wasn’t like he had gone many places besides China and a few cities in the U.S. 

Vex set her backpack to the side as she slid into the seat next to Vax, giving him one of her pencils. He twirled it through his fingers, the weight different than a steel knife but much less dangerous and not as likely to stab him if he did it wrong. Also it was apparently ‘threatening’ and ‘looked down upon’ to spin a knife around in company, or so Vex claimed. 

“Great!” Tiberius said, once again sounding like he meant it. He gathered up a few papers and grinned at them. “Here are your character sheets. If you need any assistance, I can--” 

Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as the door slammed open. Vax knew he was not a particularly tall man, all things considered, but still, he rarely felt _dwarfed._ Looking at this new stranger, someone easily six foot ten and built like a boulder, Vax felt tiny. Next to him, a small woman walked in. It took Vax a moment to realize that she wasn’t even that short, she just was standing right by a giant. 

“Hello! My name is Pike. Is this the D&D group?” The woman, Pike apparently, asked. Tiberius seemed a bit taken aback by the bulk of her companion, but he nodded and his smile returned quickly. 

“It is indeed. My name is Tiberius Stormwind and it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Tiberius adjusted his glasses as he looked at the much taller man. “And your name is…?” For a split second, the giant peered down at Tiberius and Vax was one hundred percent convinced that he was about to witness a murder. 

“I’m Grog.” A pause. “We’ve met before.” It wasn’t a question. Tiberius stammered, trying to think of where he could have run into this hulk of a human and not have remembered him. “Were you in Psychology 212, The Mind of Success, last semester?” Silence. Vax was pretty sure he could have heard a needle drop. 

Tiberius recovered first, nodding vigorously. 

“Why yes, I was. I’m a psychology and political studies major. What are you studying?” During this, Pike had found her way around the table and sat next to Vex. She was, indeed, short compared to the twins but now that she was farther from Grog it didn’t seem quite as extreme. Vax would have put her at five foot, maybe a little less. 

“Hello, what are your names?” She asked, pulling out a notebook and several pencils. Grog and Tiberius were in a rather interesting conversation, in that Grog seemed to be doing most of the talking while Tiberius attempted to interject from time to time to no avail. 

“I’m Vex’ahlia and this is my brother, Vax’ildan. You can call me Vex.” Pike seemed thoroughly charmed by Vex’s smile and trademark wink, and not at all put off by the half-hearted grunt Vax gave her, so she couldn’t be all that bad. “Have you played D&D before?” Vex asked. 

“No, but Grog and I saw the flier and we thought it might be fun. Have you played at all?” Pike replied. Vex said “no” and began speculating what would happen when they started playing. She and Pike seemed convinced that they’d fight dragons and become heroes, but Vax kept his mouth shut. He would be fine if they just fought off a few orcs and wandered around like some kind of _Lord of the Rings_ rip-off. 

Tiberius managed to get away from his conversation with Grog and started handing out some papers to everyone. Vax glanced down at it and was unsurprised to see that it was a character sheet. He was a little intimidated by how many blank spaces there were and one glance at his sister told him that she was feeling the same way. Without hesitating, Vax reached down and squeezed her hand. For better or worse, they were in this together. 

Grog let out a horrifying belch and grinned at everyone. One of his teeth was chipped and Vax’s eyes were probably playing tricks on him, but he would have sworn that they were a shade of yellow. 

“What is the biggest, most badass character I could be?” Tiberius spluttered, apparently uncertain if Grog was being serious or not. 

Vax shared a look at his sister and reached across the table to grab the player’s handbook. He was going to be here a while; he might as well get started on his character sooner rather than later. 

 

// 

 

“How do I calculate armor class again?” Pike asked, trying to peer over Vex’s shoulder. The taller woman shrugged and motioned to the player’s handbook that Vax was currently flipping through, still trying to decide on what class he wanted to be. 

“I’d tell you but my darling brother has been using the handbook for the past year,” Vex drawled, placing a hand on his shoulder. Vax rolled his eyes and slid it over to her.

“Knock yourself out, sister dear, but if you don’t help me make up my mind we will be here forever.” As if sensing his trouble, Tiberius looked up from where he was counting numbers with Grog. Vax still couldn’t tell if Tiberius had started the group because he genuinely wanted to play D&D or because he was lonely. Something told Vax that the answer was probably ‘both.’

“What are you deciding between?” Tiberius asked, sliding down the table. Grog was sitting next to Pike, who was squeezed between him and Vex. Fortunately Vax had the end of the table to himself, his sister the only one near him. It was nice and allowed him to be antisocial without seeming like it. That was a particular skill that had taken a few years to hone. 

Vax shrugged. “Rogue or ranger, probably.” He nudged Vex, who was flipping through the handbook while Pike scribbled something down. “What are you going to be?”

“A ranger,” Vex replied without so much as a glance. 

“Why?” Vax asked, raising an eyebrow. His surprise caught Vex’s attention and she gave him a look. “I can’t tell what you’re trying to say,” Vax complained, though he probably could have if he had really wanted to put the effort in. The two of them were convinced that twin telepathy was a thing, even if it was awfully complicated and honestly really inefficient. 

“They get to be all nature-y but also shoot stuff. Plus they use bows.” Vax supposed that did sound like his sister. “You should be a rogue. They stab stuff,” Vex suggested. Of course, now that she told him to do something, that was the last thing Vax wanted.

“And what if I want to be a ranger too?” Vex gave her brother a look like she knew exactly what he was trying to do, but Vax didn’t back down. Tiberius, completely unaware of what was going on, launched into an explanation about balancing the party and how _they probably needed someone to use magic and to heal, but a rogue isn’t strictly necessary, they’re just damn useful to have._

“I’m going to be a cleric and Grog is going to be a barbarian,” Pike called out, trying to be helpful. “I just need to figure out how spells work. There’s a, well, a lot involved.” Grog grinned and leaned across the table. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna smash things with my fists!” He sounded almost too excited and Vax was even more glad that he was sitting on the other end of the table. 

“Well, we were supposed to have other players but in a party of four, it just isn’t very logical to have two rangers--” Vex smirked at her brother right as the door opened and a gasping, very much out of breath redhead appeared. 

She looked up at the group and gave them all a sheepish smile, hair cascading past her waist. Vax had never seen her before but that wasn’t a surprise considering the size of their school. With her long, flowing dress and an embroidered headband, she looked like she needed to be in gardening club singing to birds or something. Not the type of person Vax spoke to, when he talked to anyone at all. 

“Hi, is this the D&D group?” Tiberius nodded and the woman’s smile grew. “Great! I’m sorry I’m late, I got distracted in the lab and didn’t realize what time is was, but I came here as soon as I could.” She took in a deep breath and straightened up. There was a brown messenger bag slung over one shoulder, the fabric covered in pins saying things like ‘save the whales’ or ‘I hug trees.’ Vax had no doubt that she did, indeed, hug trees. “My name’s Keyleth.” 

“Hello, Keyleth. I’m Tiberius Stormwind--” Vax mentally groaned and glanced at his phone. Another two and a half hours to go. He could do this. As if sensing her brother’s thoughts, Vex elbowed him in the side. Vax was only a little insulted. 

“Have you thought of what class you want to be, brother?” She asked. He glared at her and grabbed his pencil. Without saying anything, he wrote down ‘ranger’ in his class section. “You are utterly immature.” 

“I am your brother, sister of mine,” Vax replied. He got another elbow to the side but it was definitely worth it. “Now, what class are you thinking about?” Vex just glared at him, took her own pencil, and wrote ‘ranger’ in the right area. 

There was a moment when both of them were quiet, the only sound Pike trying to explain ability modifiers to Grog while Keyleth listened to Tiberius talk about D&D. Vax looked at Vex, who just raised a single eyebrow. He wasn’t stupid, he knew when to cut his losses. 

“Fine, but if we all die because you refuse to diversify our party, I will say I told you so,” Vax told his sister. Vex spluttered. 

“You don’t even want to be here!” Vax adopted a hurt look that didn’t fool Vex for a second. “Just go back to your stupid character sheet and stop copying all of my ideas.” 

“Aw, I’m hurt sister. Here I am thinking that we’re going to have some good sibling bonding.” Tiberius, of course, picked that exact moment to leave Keyleth to her own devices and come back over to the twins.

“Do you need any help? Any mechanics that you want explained?” He asked. 

“Nope,” Vax replied, popping the ‘p’ and giving Tiberius a grin. “We’re absolutely fine.” He pinched his sister’s cheek and immediately winced as Vex slugged him in the shoulder.

_Worth it._

 

// 

 

They didn’t end up playing that night. About thirty minutes after Keyleth had showed up, another young man came named Scanlan Shorthalt. He had a good idea of what he wanted to be and Vax could tell that he had played before, but Keyleth had trouble picking spells. It probably didn’t help that Vax and Vex kept arguing about different aspects of their characters while Grog couldn’t wrap his head around all the different numbers. 

It wasn’t until the librarian came around and told them that they had to leave, since the library was closing, that any of them realized that it was twelve in the morning. 

The meeting was supposed to end at ten. Vax hadn’t really enjoyed having to listen to Pike talk about saving throws and ability modifiers for thirty minutes, nor had he responded to any of Keyleth’s attempts at starting conversation beyond one-syllable answers. He was just engaged in character building, a surprising amount, in his opinion. Everything was much different than other games he had played, which were mainly limited to anything free and online. Now he had an almost scary amount of control over his character and he… Well, he liked it.

He also hated it with a burning passion. Things would be a hundred times easier if he hadn’t insisted that he and Vex play twins, but he was already outside of his comfort zone enough. He was going to have _something_ similar in this game, goddammit. But there was rarely an occasion where he and Vex agreed on something without multiple arguments and counter-arguments, and their D &D characters were no exception. 

“I think we should be full elves,” Vex said as Vax poured milk into his cereal three mornings later. He groaned and slammed the carton down with unnecessary force. If she was bothered, Vex didn’t say anything. If this wasn’t the tenth or twentieth or hundredth time she had brought up D&D, Vax would have been in a better mood. As it was, he just continued getting breakfast as Vex talked. 

“I’m just saying, we get a bonus to dexterity and since someone has insisted on being a ranger too, it would help both of us.” It was almost funny because she seemed entire in denial that Vax had picked ranger first, technically, but he didn’t feel like pointing that out. “Also, elves are just cool. You saw _Lord of the Rings._ You had a _huge_ crush on Legolas.” 

“And you liked Éowyn but you don’t want us to be humans,” he did point out. Vex pouted and pat Trinket on the head. The dog’s tail whipped back and forth, hitting the table leg and threatening to knock the entire thing over. 

Vax took his bowl and sat across from Vex at their rickety, probably weeks away from breaking, table. He knew that he was probably over-thinking a stupid game, something the two of them were playing for fun and to try to make friends, but he also really liked what he had come up with… And he knew Vex wouldn’t _really_ hate it, but she might also brush him off as being ridiculous.

That had happened before but usually it wasn’t anything too important. Little things, like what Vex should wear to job interviews or whether she should change the color scheme on class presentations. 

Now, though, Vax almost needed his sister to agree. He just didn’t think he could explain why if she asked and that scared him. 

“Hey.” Speaking of sisters, Vex’ahlia poked him with her foot, legs just long enough to reach him. “What are you thinking about?” She asked. Vax sighed and pushed some of his clumpy cereal around. It didn’t taste as good as usual, which could have been from the thoughts running through his head. Then again, dollar store cereal never tasted good, so Vax didn’t know why today was particularly offensive to his taste buds. 

“We should be half-elves. Because. Y’know.” There was a look of confusion on Vex’s face for a moment before the realization dawned on her. She gave him a small smile, eyes softening. 

“Ok. Half-elves it is.” They continued to eat breakfast in silence, Vex crunching on toast while flipping through a textbook and jotting down notes. Neither twin were particularly great morning people, but she was much better at surviving on a cup of coffee. Vax needed a full, no interruptions, eight hours or else he felt like death.

Vex liked to point out that he already looked like death half the time, so there wasn’t much of a difference. Vax would then remind her that they were essentially identical. It usually shut her up. 

“Do you want us to be raised by our mother or father? I’m just saying, we could be these tragic orphans who have to be raised by their cruel and uncaring father--”

“I thought this was supposed to be different from reality,” Vax deadpanned. Vex opened her mouth to argue. 

It was satisfying to hear the _snap_ when she closed her mouth. Vax had no doubt that she would find a way to exact her revenge, but for now he could enjoy himself. 

 

// 

 

“I’m an elven bard named Burt Reynolds,” Scanlan explained. Keyleth laughed and Pike had a slightly amused look on her face. Vax rolled his eyes, sharing a glance with his smiling sister, and Grog looked too busy consulting the player’s handbook to listen to what anyone else was saying. 

“I’m an elf too,” Keyleth added after she recovered from her laughter. “I’m a druid named Éiru.” Vax wondered if everyone was going to be an elf or a half-elf. It made sense. They did seem like the coolest race, living so long and everything. That would just get boring quickly, though Scanlan had managed to make everyone but Vax laugh at least once already. _Maybe things won’t be that bad,_ Vax thought. 

“Grog and I are gnomes,” Pike threw in, smiling. Hearing his name, Grog glanced over. “Tell them about your character,” she told him. Grog blanked for a moment before Pike gestured to the character sheet lying in front of her. She had neat handwriting, the kind that teachers all loved and Vax could never copy even with hours of effort. 

He would know; his father had made him try. 

“I’m a gnome barbarian named Bruce an’ Pike is a gnome cleric named Esther.” Grog gave everyone a toothy grin. Vax wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a warning that, if anyone disagreed, Grog would pound them into jelly. Tiberius just nodded and mumbled something that Vax didn’t catch. “What did you say?” Grog asked. “I can’t hear too well, so you gotta be louder.” _That would explain why he’s so loud then,_ Vax thought.

“Oh, uh, I said that you have a good spread of classes. It might help if you had more of a front line but there’s another person who might play. He hasn’t come yet, but he could always be that person.” Tiberius cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. “Is there any last minute questions before we begin?” Scanlan raised his hand. “Yes?” 

“Is anyone opposed to me singing or playing an instrument while we play? All in character, of course, I just thought it would add a bit of... Flair to everything.” Somehow, Vax wasn’t surprised at all when Scanlan opened his backpack and pulled out a small case. He popped it open and, lo and behold, put together a flute. Tiberius just stared. Understandably, Vax got the feeling that this wasn’t something that usually happened in a D&D campaign. 

Scanlan ignored the looks he was getting from everyone and played a few notes. Vax was no connoisseur of classical music, let alone flutes, but it sounded like Scanlan knew what he was doing. Sort of. Flutes were _probably_ supposed to sound like that. 

“So are we starting or is he gonna keep playing the flute?” Grog grunted. Tiberius shook his head. His hair was shaved so it reflected light off the top, almost identical to Grog’s style except the taller man had one of the most impressive beards Vax had ever seen. He wasn’t jealous of facial hair anymore, but he still was a bit miffed that even Scanlan had scruff while Vax was lucky if he had to shave once a month. 

“All right, everyone sit down and we’ll begin.” Tiberius’ words were a bit unnecessary considering that everyone was sitting, and he seemed to notice that right after he spoke. “Anyways. Our story begins with a group of intrepid fighters, some noble in intention and others not, arriving at a small town in the middle of a forest…”

 

//

 

“Roll for persuasion.” Keyleth frowned. 

“Which one is that?” 

“Charisma. It should be on your sheet,” Pike told her. Keyleth was sitting on the opposite side of the table and it took her a moment to find the right skill. Her face fell. “Oh no, are you not very good at it?” Pike asked. 

“Uh, can someone else do it for me?” Keyleth asked Tiberius. He shook his head.

“You’re the one who decided to convince the guards we’re harmless,” Vax pointed out. “I still think we could have snuck in.” 

“My stealth is really bad though,” Pike interrupted. “We would have been caught and then we’d be in even more trouble.” 

“Maybe I can inspire Keyleth -- I mean Éiru -- by playing a soft melody on my flute?” Scanlan suggested. Tiberius hesitated before waving a hand and telling him that he could, but the guards would probably be suspicious about an elf suddenly playing the flute. “Ok, in that case I don’t use my flute, I hum.” 

“You hum.” Tiberius wasn’t judgemental, which was more than Vax could say. Scanlan grinned.

“I hum.” A moment of silence. Someone’s phone vibrated and Tiberius sighed. 

“Please keep your phones on silent. If we have to stop every time someone’s phone vibrates, then we’ll be here all night,” he reminded them. 

“We’re going to be here all night anyway,” Vax pointed out. Vex elbowed him in the side even as Keyleth chuckled. Grog let out a deep, belly laugh. “Thank you, I’m here all week,” Vax deadpanned. 

“So, uh, Keyleth, add a d6 inspiration. The guards are wondering why the bard started humming, but he’s a strange fellow and they just brush it off.” Tiberius cleared his throat and rolled a die of his own. “What did you get?” 

“Uh. With the inspiration?” Keyleth asked. Tiberius nodded and adjusted his glasses. Keyleth swallowed. “Thirteen…?”

They had to fight the guards. 

 

//

 

Vax stared at the board. It wasn’t really a board, per se, more like a bunch of graph paper drawn all over with random things out of pockets to symbolize different characters. His half-elf, for one, was the one inch bisexual pride flag pin he usually had on his backpack. Vex was using a nickel and Grog had a pencap that, ironically since he was playing a gnome, loomed over the rest. The enemies were even less formal, all just pieces of colored construction paper, circles all cut the same size. 

Still, that didn’t change the fact that things were looking dire. Three orcs were surrounding Scanlan and Keyleth, who had managed to get separated from the rest of the group. Vex and Vax’s characters were preoccupied with an orc of their own; a few rounds of bad luck meant that they hadn’t landed a single blow besides the measly three damage Vex had inflicted with a dagger. 

Grog, playing their surprisingly useful gnome barbarian Bruce, had run off by himself and killed two orcs, but was still a few turns away from helping anyone else. 

“I’m all out of spells,” Pike announced with an apologetic shrug. “I can hit things with my mace?” She suggested. It was her turn on the initiation list, which Vax still wasn’t sure he understood. If everything was supposed to be happening at the same time, why did they have to wait to go? It made things easier for Tiberius, maybe, who had taken five minutes to explain combat to the group and was now constantly reminding them about rules or adjustments they needed to keep in mind. 

Vax though he had signed up for _Dungeons and Dragons,_ not _101 rules and regulations before killing things._

“If you could hit the things close to me, that would be great,” Scanlan suggested. “Since I am but a weak and helpless bard.” He played a few notes on his flute for emphasis. 

“Or help the two ranged weapon users who are in melee range of death,” Vax added. “Just throwing that out there.” 

“You know, we wouldn’t be having this problem if someone had been a rogue instead. “ Vex shot her brother a look, as if it was his fault that the entire party was rolling terribly and apparently unable to actually work together for more than five seconds. Pike and Keyleth were trying, but it wasn’t enough to make up for how poorly everyone else was doing. 

Tiberius cleared his throat. “Pike, if you don’t make up your mind I will have to skip you--” He was cut off by the sound of the door slowly opening, revealing a pale figure with startling white hair. Vax watched, curious, as the young man adjusted his circular glasses and gave everyone an uneasy smile. 

“Hello,” he said. “My name is Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the third.” He was met with blank stares; Vax’ildan thought his name was strange, at times, but he was feeling much better about it now. “But you can call me Percy. I… I take it I’m a bit late to join?” Tiberius, as was starting to become the norm, was the first to recover.

“Hello, I’m Tiberius Stormwind. We’re just in the middle of an encounter now, but if you want to wait you can certainly roll a character afterwards.” He checked his watch, an honest-to-god watch, not his phone. “It’s almost time for the library to close, so let’s try to finish this before they come to kick us out.” 

Pike nodded, a determined look in her eyes. “Ok, well I’m going to move here and attack that orc.” Scanlan adopted a hurt expression.

“You aren’t going to help me out?” He asked. 

“You have Keyleth, you’ll be fine!” Pike argued. Keyleth nodded. Scanlan rolled his eyes.

“But you saving me would be so… romantic.” 

In the end, Pike ended up saving a nearly-dead ‘Burt Reynolds’ anyway, while Vax and Vex fought their way through the last few orcs. Bruce the barbarian, controlled by Grog who looked like a barbarian, got distracted looting bodies while the rest of the fight was still going on. It was, in short, a giant mess and even Tiberius looked a little frazzled by the end. Vax wouldn’t be surprised if Percy _giant-ass long name_ decided not to come back.

He did, and he made a tiefling warlock that actually knew what he was doing and saved the party about five times in one session. When asked by Scanlan if he had some kind of godly luck, Percy gave him a rueful smile. 

“I highly doubt it,” he replied. “But I have played before. It’s really not so difficult when you know what you’re doing.” Percy also rolled three natural twenties in four hours, so Vax wasn’t discounting the luck quite yet.

 

//

 

“Hey, I was wondering if anyone wanted to see a movie this weekend?” Keyleth asked one day, as they were all packing up after a session involving a pumpkin, three mice, and a lot of minor illusion spells. Pike glanced over, her blonde hair pulled back into a neat bun. 

“Sure! What do you say, Grog?” She asked her friend, looking up at him. There weren’t many occasions when one _wouldn’t_ look up to him, of course, seeing as he was just that tall. Grog shrugged, stuffing his character sheet into his backpack with absolute recklessness. He had already had to replace it twice, once because he spilled soda over it and another because it ripped right in half. 

Pike had confessed, after the second time and only when Grog was out of earshot, that she was also keeping track of all his stats and items by herself. Vax and the rest of the group agreed that it was probably for the best. 

“Is it going to be a violent movie?” He asked. Keyleth visibly wilted. She was a lot like the plants she cared for so much, Vax thought on many an occasion. Like them, she brightened in the sunlight and seemed to enjoy dancing in the rain. She also needed careful nourishment and seemed to have an almost elemental quality that was hard for him to pin down. 

Vax didn’t like not understanding people, which was why he still felt cautious about Scanlan and Percy. The two were opposites; Scanlan was cheerful to the point of falsehood. He was loud and enjoyed playing his flute at inopportune moments, much to Tiberius’ chagrin, and Vax sensed that there was more beneath the surface. 

But Percy was more level-headed, a logical type, the kind of person who could see thirty different ways out of a room within a few seconds. Vax could respect that, but he also could recognize the almost haunted look Percy sometimes had when he thought no one was looking.

 _That_ was what had Vax on edge. 

His sister, however, seemed to have no such qualms. Indeed, Vex’ahlia readily agreed to see a movie with Keyleth, promising to drag her _boring, stuffy_ brother along. 

“I am not boring or stuffy,” Vax argued. “And I don’t know if I can go, I have to work this weekend.” Keyleth let out an _aw_ of disappointment. Vex just waggled her eyebrows.

“Did someone make sure he was scheduled with Gilmore again?” She asked. Vax rolled his eyes and slung his backpack over his shoulder. 

“Actually, I took the shift to give him time off. He needed a replacement and I agreed. Now come on, Trinket’s probably missing us.” It was a low tactic, but it worked. Vex’ahlia, confronted with the idea of their dog being all alone, put her things away with surprising speed. 

Vax lingered at the doorway to the room while she said goodbye to everyone. He was warming up to the others but not quite as fast as his sister, who had always been better with people.

Percy paused as he started to leave, his messenger bag the same dark blue as his jacket. “Did Vex force you to come?” He asked. It was an honest question but Vax just snorted. 

“I was the one who convinced her to come,” he replied. Percy nodded, glancing back at the room. Pike and Vex were exchanging a long, tender hug. Grog seemed annoyed at being left out, so he wrapped his massive arms around both of them and lifted the two up in the air without breaking a sweat. 

Vax had decided Grog was a lot less intimidating after playing a few sessions together. He still wouldn’t trust Grog with any fragile or otherwise delicate, but the big guy was reliable and easy to understand at least. Well, there were moments when Grog would throw him off, saying something about one of the more challenging classes he was in or pointing out something that the rest of the players hadn’t picked up in-game, but overall Vax thought he had a good read on Grog’s personality. 

The session with the cow and the bag of holding had been mildly disturbing, but in Grog’s defense none of them had _known_ the cow would run out of air. Tiberius had seemed almost apologetic when he had been describing the after-effects. Mostly he seemed a bit pleased that he had managed to surprise them. 

“Why are you here, then? You don’t seem to enjoy it very much.” Percy’s words lingered in the air. Vax opened his mouth to reply, but shut it moments later, finding he didn’t know what he wanted to say. 

He was there because his therapist thought he and his sister needed to connect more with strangers, needed to form bonds beyond the ones between them and their dog. He was there because, for some horrible reason, he liked arguing about the right way to sneak through a dungeon for three hours. He was there because it made Vex happy and because he did, honestly, like the way Keyleth smiled and the way Pike could calm them all with just a few words.

“Are you ready to go?” Vex’ahlia asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother. Vax nodded, shaken out of his thoughts. “Next movie night, you’re coming with us by the way. I promised Keyleth.” He snorted but smiled at the others as he gave them a single wave before leaving. “Bye, Percy. Don’t mind my brother, he was dropped on his head a lot as a child,” Vax heard Vex say.

“Don’t listen to a thing my sister says,” Vax argued. Vex aimed to hit him over the head but he ducked out of the way, laughing. He shoved her a little as they walked out of the library, the two of them falling into their regular and comforting bickering. 

They eventually fell silent on the subway, the loud clang and general bustle not really great for having conversations. Vax stared out the window, still thinking about what Percy had said. He never meant to _seem_ like he disliked everyone, moody was just his default state of being. Noticing that he was lost in thought, Vex nudged him with her shoulder.

“What are you thinking about? The best way to break Scanlan’s flute without him finding out?” She teased. For the first few sessions, Vax had really been tempted to take the thing and shove it down Scanlan’s throat. Now, though, almost three months later, it was hard to imagine a game without it.

If Scanlan carried through on his promise to bring his lute, that might be a different story altogether. Seriously, who actually owned a lute? 

“You’re glad we joined, right?” Vax asked, voice serious. His sister nodded. 

“Of course I am. I think it’s good to have friends and it’s really fun to spend time with them.” A moment of silence. “Even if I want to strangle Grog half the time. I don’t know how Pike stands him.”

“Pike is a saint,” Vax replied. He turned back to the window, only to see his sister’s reflection. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips were pursed, which were both signs that she wanted to have a deep conversation but didn’t know if he would just get mad and walk away. Considering they were on a subway for the next thirty minutes, walking away would be a bit more difficult than it usually was. 

Then again, it would take more than a moving subway car to stop Vax if he really wanted to leave. 

Vex made up her mind and spoke anyway. “Are you glad we joined?” Vax nodded. One of his sister’s eyebrows raised. “Really?” 

“Yes, really.” And he meant it.


End file.
